$100,000 allotted for home of Bates
Little Rock city board members approved a $100,000 appropriation for the upkeep of the historic home of Daisy Gatson Bates during a meeting Tuesday.
The resolution authorizes the city manager to transfer money approved as part of the city's 2022 budget last month to the L.C. and Daisy Bates Museum Foundation for rehabilitation and preservation of the home located at 1207 W. 28th St.
The funding item was approved as part of the city board's consent agenda.
The property, which is a National Historic Landmark, was home to Bates and her husband, L.C. It served as a staging ground for the Little Rock Nine during the desegregation crisis in the fall of 1957.
Session to center on 'Organ Thieves'
The Central Arkansas Library System will host author Chip Jones next month in a virtual discussion of his 2020 nonfiction book "The Organ Thieves: The Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South."
The discussion moderator will be Laura K. Guidry-Grimes, an assistant professor in the Department of Medical Humanities and Bioethics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where she also holds a secondary appointment in psychiatry, according to a news release issued by the library system.
The paperback edition of Jones' book is scheduled to be released next month.
Attendees can register for the free event, scheduled for 6:30-7:30 p.m. Feb. 17, by visiting cals.org/event/chip-jones.
2022 attractions guide released
The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau has released its 2022 attractions guide for the city, according to a news release issued.
The guide -- which reportedly gets placed in sites like visitor information centers and hotels -- includes attractions like the William J. Clinton Presidential Center as well as the city's dining and outdoor offerings.
In a statement, visitors bureau President and Chief Executive Officer Gretchen Hall called the guide "a key component of our efforts to promote the destination."
Poll picks Kevin for baby rhino name
The baby eastern black rhinoceros born at the Little Rock Zoo in November has been named Kevin following an online poll.
According to a zoo newsletter issued Wednesday, the rhino takes its name from cricket player and conservationist Kevin Pietersen. The choice of name won out over Clint the Black Rhino (a nod to the country singer Clint Black), Enzi, Hatari and Thunder.
The birth of the critically endangered species was the first rhino birth to ever occur at the zoo.